


Episode 1: Stained Fingers and Beating Hearts

by drainbamage954 (cats_cradle6766)



Series: Blooming Hearts [6]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Crushes, Fluff, Garden Shop, Gardens & Gardening, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9000766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cats_cradle6766/pseuds/drainbamage954
Summary: Working at a plant store is a seasonal occupation.  However, love lasts year round.  And on Tuesday, Sehun gets to learn about the finer details of dead heading flowers.





	

Tuesday morning is always boring because Tuesday has to be the most boring day of the week. Even Thursday, which serves no purpose aside from being the break between Hump day Wednesday and the glory of Friday, is more interesting that Tuesday. Sehun doesn't even have weekends off anymore, his days off scattered between days, but he still knows Tuesday has to be the most useless day of the week to ever exist.

"Did you even wake up on a side of the bed today?" Junmyeon asks, looking at him as he smears sun cream over his face and huddles by the computer, hiding from view of anyone that could potentially walk by. Meaning Kyuhyun.

Sehun juts out his lower lip at Junmyeon in response. "You look like Gollum," he tells the other. "Fawning over your precious. Except it's not even valuable. It's sunscreen to protect your sickly pasty skin."

"So you woke up upside down then," Junmyeon supplies as he smears cream over his cheekbones carefully. "I bed even the floor is the wrong side of the bed for you."

"Whereas you wake up with the almighty pole of awkward pleasantry shoved so far up your ass you can hang a flag on it above your head," Sehun counters as he picks at the display of daisies.

"It's a miracle anyone is friends with you," Junmyeon says, squirting cream onto his arms and smearing it. “It’s a miracle I am friends with you. I’m actually a nice person. Unlike you, who are probably related to Satan.”

"You look like you're smearing cum all over yourself," Sehun comments and Junmyeon jerks to look at him with a most affronted and horrified expression on his face. Sehun is extremely pleased right now.

"You-" Junmyeon begins and looks about to be sick, hand still stuck on his arms as the sunscreen is smeared all over his skin the sick glory as Sehun gloats at him.

"What's up you two?" the sudden voice has Sehun jerking from where he's mindlessly shredding daisy leaves and Junmyeon yelps, crouching out of sight.

"Hi Minseok!" Sehun says probably far too loudly as the shorter looks between the two and Junmyeon appears to try to recover from a minor heart attack. "How are you this morning? Did you eat breakfast?"

Junmyeon sends him perhaps the most judging look he has ever come up with as Sehun smiles brightly. "Fucking idiot," Junmyeon mutters from where he's crouched as he resumes rubbing in sun cream.

Minseok smiles easily as he looks between Sehun and Junmyeon, his long sleeved shirt rolled up around his elbows and company cap backwards on his head. He has a bit of dirt smeared on his nose and Sehun wants to wipe it away so badly.

"I'm good," Minseok replies easily, smiling up to Sehun and the younger presses his lips together to try not to smile so big his teeth fall out. Minseok is so cute. "Woke up early actually and got a pretty good start. You?"

Sehun, in fact, fell out of bed this morning when his alarm went off and slammed his elbow against his bedside table, which sent him cursing wildly as his brother stole first shower. Seeing as Jinwon actually has a real job in a real company doing real work, he should probably be allowed first shower but Sehun was pissed anyway and used to the time to blow up aliens on 'SPACE MISSIONARY' instead of getting his usual healthy breakfast of poptarts and orange juice.

Thus he'd been forced to shove about four poptarts in his mouth on his way out of the house and accidentally cut the roof of his mouth. He keeps tonguing it and it hurts like a motherfucker.

"I had a great morning," Sehun lies as he smiles down at Minseok. Because people like hearing happy things right and if Sehun tells Minseok he'd only succeeded in blowing up seventy-two aliens this morning, Minseok probably wont be impressed.

"Are either of you two really busy at the moment?" Minseok asks, tugging at his radio absently and looking between the two cashiers. Sehun and Junmyeon, as per usual, are working the outside with Luhan and Jongdae are taking care of the inside shop today while Baekhyun runs between for help. Today is a really nice day. They'll probably get a lot of customers and Junmyeon will need help with all the orders. It's usually Sehun's job to call the heaps of plants to Junmyeon as he types in the orders and today already has seen fifteen customers walking in to browse among the plants, meaning Junmyeon will be slammed in about twenty to thirty minutes.

Junmyeon opens his mouth and Sehun says "Not busy at all, do you need help with something?" smiling brightly as Junmyeon gives him an annoyed look.

"I need some help in Greenhouse three, actually," Minseok says, gesturing over to the greenhouse before looking back at Sehun. "The geraniums need to be dead headed. They're looking horrible. Think you can give me a hand?"

No, Sehun probably can't because if he does Junmyeon is going to drown in customers and plant orders. "Sure," he says happily because time with Minseok is time with Minseok and Minseok is probably the cutest yet most masculine thing Sehun has ever seen in his entire life and he makes puppies look pale in comparison. Plus, that ass....

Junmyeon glowers. "Awesome!" Minseok says, clapping his hands and grinningly widely. "I'll meet you over there." Sehun actually waves a little bit as Minseok walks over to where he was finishing up arranging the hanging baskets before he turns to Junmyeon, who looks ready to start a fire.

"Careful," Sehun says, picking up a pen and pointing at him. "You might reverse sunburn yourself from all that burning fury and darken your skin from the inside out."

"I'm going to murder you," Junmyeon says, finally finishing with his sunscreen and standing up properly. There's some still smeared by his left eyebrow.

"Cool beans," Sehun says with a cocky smile as he leans back. He gets to help Minseok. On his own. He gets to help out Minseok and spend time with him and talk and be social and stuff.

Junmyeon's face darkens as Sehun rolls his eyes. "Hey, come on, I never get to hang out with him, please?"

Junmyeon doesn't seem convinced.

"I'll leave you alone for an entire week and not humiliate you in front of Kyuhyun," Sehun offers instead, leaning across the counter and Junmyeon raises an eyebrow.

"And you can have my chips at lunch."

Junmyeon shifts his weight. "I can get my own chips," Junmyeon says, crossing his own arms. "Plus, I don't even like chips that much."

Sehun chews his lip in thought. "I'll be your coffee boy," he says, trying to think of something to get Junmyeon to let him go. "Anytime you want coffee, any flavor any style, I'll get it for you from the shop. Luhan just put in that new coffee machine thing right?"

Junmyeon seems to consider this.

"Please!!!" Sehun never pleads. But right now, he is looking at possible hours of spending time with Minseok and that- he will stoop low for that.

Well, he may end up _accidentally_ putting salt in Junmyeon's coffee but who's counting details.

“Fine," Junmyeon finally sighs and Sehun almost fist pumps in victory. "But go find Jongdae and ask him to help me out here. Baekhyun's useless at calling and is better in the shop anyway."

"Deal," Sehun says, flashing Junymeon a rare smile before running into the shop and looking around for Jongdae. _"Jongdae!"_ he half yells, looking around frantically.

"My god, you're like a cannon, what the did you eat today? Methamphetamines?" Luhan says, jerking at Sehun's loud proclamation and looking over at him with judgment on his face.

"Where's Jongdae?" Sehun asks instead of answering his superior. "I need him to cover for me while I help Minseok with geraniums."

Luhan's eyebrows slowly raise up his face, like he's spent hours perfecting this graceful rise into skepticism.

"Why don't I just help Minseok?" Jongdae asks, walking up from by the lawn ornaments and fixing his cap on his head. Backwards and clearly awesome. "Then you can stay with Junmyeon. Or Baekhyun can help Minseok. He's just floating today anyway."

"But Minseok asked me to help!" Sehun snaps, and glares. Fuck Jongdae and his nasty attempts to steal away his precious Minseok time.

Jongdae gives him a look. Luhan grins a bit as Baekhyun walks in, two cups of coffee in hand and looks at them with a curious turn of lips.

"Why are you inside?" Baekhyun asks, looking at Sehun. "I thought you were outside today."

"Cover for Jongdae so he can cover for me so I can dead head geraniums!" Sehun cuts to the point very well.

Baekhyun blinks. "But I was just going to-"

"Cover!" Sehun demands and ignores the person who actually has the authority to make this decision. Which is Luhan. Who is watching all of his in varying degrees of lazy amusement.

Baekhyun looks to his boss, who grins like Lang after breaking a gazing ball, before back at Sehun. "Fine," he says and Jongdae huffs.

"You guys are such push overs," Jongdae grumbles before trudging outside as Sehun grins and chooses to walk in composure to greenhouse three and definitely doesn't skip. Nope. No skipping.

Minseok is bent over one of the many tables, hands easily going over plants and snapping off dead parts as Sehun walks into green house three and he looks up with a pleasant smile. "There you are," he says as Sehun approaches him easily and tries not to stand obviously close.

"So," Sehun says, scratching at a wrist. "Dead heading geraniums?"

"Yep," Minseok says, straightening and looking over the green house. "We need to clean them up. They're looking terrible."

Sehun looks around the green house. "Which ones?"

Minseok laughs and looks at him in amusement. Sehun wants this to happen more often. "All of them," he says and something hits Sehun in the face. He's pretty sure it's his dying pride.

"All-" Sehun starts before looking around. Minseok is smiling in clear amusement.

"See, this is why I asked for your help," Minseok says, walking up and clapping Sehun on the shoulder. He's so much shorter than Sehun. Sehun could just lean down and pick him up. And then, you know, stroke his face. With his face. Or something.

"Thanks for offering," Minseok finishes and Sehun feels something in his stomach gurgle that definitely wasn’t his speedy poptart breakfast.

"So," Sehun says, looking down and wondering if he should mask his blush or let it stay. Because he could be awkward and try _not_ to let Minseok know that he's super infatuated like he usually does with people he likes or he could see if his obvious affections for the other lure him in and then they.... Well, Sehun will figure that out when it happens.

Sehun has apparently spaced off

"So, you remember how to dead head, right?" Minseok asks, looking over what looks like a billion geraniums.

Sehun has, so far in his past month of working here learned how to do a few things. Call what the plants are to Junmyeon, operate the cash register, and avoid Lang and Angio. He has also learned that the little cute pepper plants on the front display are not for eating. As they burn half your mouth off. Sehun has, as of yet, done nothing more with plants than pick them up, put them down, and water them.

"Um," Sehun says and fidgets. If he says yes, he looks educated, but then when he tries to dead head and looks like an idiot, Minseok will know and _possibly judge him_. But if he says no, he will look foolish and Sehun doesn't like looking foolish.

Minseok smiles at him and Sehun figures smiling back is a good third option.

"It's really easy," Minseok says, apparently interpreting Sehun's lack of proper answer as 'I have no fucking clue' and turning to a plant. "You just look for the dead or dying leaves, reach down to the base of the stem of the leaf, and break it off." With a small press of fingers, Minseok breaks off a nasty dead brown leaf on the pink geranium before him as Sehun watches in such avid and perfect attention that he never exhibited in school.

Sehun nods as Minseok turns to him. "Can you try it?" Minseok asks.

Sehun isn't dumb. It looks so goddamn simple he could probably do it if he was drunk and upside down.

"Could you show me again?" Sehun asks with a small frown, shifting closer to Minseok and leaning over the geranium. Minseok smiles and Sehun elects to frown in intrigue at the plant.

"Sure," Minseok says, leaning close and Sehun's stomach gurgles again and yeah, it's definitely not the poptarts. Sehun shifts close so he can see exactly what Minseok is doing. And maybe smell him. _Minseok smells very nice in Sehun's opinion. Like flowers and earth and fresh laundered cotton._ "You find a dead part of the plant, pinch it with your fingers and carefully break it off, like this." Minseok demonstrates again while Sehun pays about zero percent attention and instead just basks in how Minseok is pressed just that little bit into his side. If Sehun shifts just a little-

Minseok looks up at Sehun easily, smiling as he holds the broken piece of dead plant material between his fingers and Sehun is very aware of how close they are. "Think you can do that?" Minseok asks and shifts a bit, his cheeks rounding as he continues to smile brightly up at Sehun.

Sehun swallows, tongue swiping over his lips nervously. "Yeah," he says, because that's a pretty good answer.

"Awesome," Minseok says, stepping back and Sehun blinks. He nearly trips out a 'no, wait, show me again!' but Minseok is already grabbing a crate and holding it out for him. "Let's watch you try and then we can get started."

Sehun has been given a task. A task by Minseok. Who is watching him expectantly. Great. Biting his tongue between his teeth to concentrate, Sehun looks towards the nearest geranium. It looks about half dead. Should be fun. He grabs it, looks for one of the many dead parts, and tries what Minseok had demonstrated for him, snapping off the dead part and looking up at Minseok for confirmation that he hasn't just fucked up. Minseok smiles and nods easily, gesturing with the garden crate and Sehun tosses in the dead part of plant, practically beaming. Success.

"Perfect," Minseok says and Sehun's stomach rolls around enthusiastically. He's perfect. He did something perfectly. He's awesome. This is awesome. Oh happy day. "I'll make you a deal. We'll work at opposite sides. Whoever gets to the end first gets treated to lunch by the other."

Lunch. With Minseok. Where they eat food together. And talk. And Sehun can possibly initiate a game of footsie and brush crumbs off of Minseok's face when he misses them. And Sehun pays. Or Minseok pays. Or they playfully bicker about the bill before Sehun shuts him up by kissing him and then Minseok pays anyway and blushes cutely. Yes. Sehun would like that. Sehun would really fucking like that. Even if lunch is Minseok getting him a granola bar and a bottle of cola from the gas station down the road and they sit on the fucking picnic tables and eat them and Sehun can't formulate proper sentences, Sehun wants this so badly right now.

”You're on," Sehun says, grabbing the garden crate and making his way over to the first section of geraniums. There's about a bajilliondy of them. Sehun puts on his game face as Minseok laughs a little and grabs his own crate. Sehun grabs a plant and begins searching for dead bits. He will have Minseok treat him to lunch if he has anything to say about it. Then he will be in debt to Minseok. And have to make it up for him. And therefore have an absolute excuse to be around him all the goddamn time. Sehun will definitely win this. He works furiously, tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration as he goes from plant to plant, looking for dead plant material and scummy things and concentrates so goddamn hard.

Around the third table, Sehun's back starts hurting from bending over the plants constantly and he stretches a bit, wincing at the crick in his neck and the slight ache in his arms as he works, looking at his progress. The geraniums look... okay. Like, not full of dead plant material. Sehun looks at his crate full of discarded plant bits. Then looks down his remaining seven tables. Then gets back to work and picks over more plants feverishly. Lunch with Minseok. Lunch with Minseok. Lunch with Minseok. Lunch with Minseok where Minseok will laugh at jokes and make his own and Sehun will have to hide his ugly awkward laughter because he doesn't want to offend Minseok because Minseok doesn't need to see that.

When Sehun's neck gives a painful twinge around table five, Sehun chances a look up, noticing the soft humming that drifts over to him and looking for Minseok. Minseok isn't opposite him. He's not behind him either. Minseok is farther down, at the middle of table six, working away easily and humming gently, his fingers snapping away dead plant bits and as his hair brushes gently against his face and he keeps bending over. Bending over again and again and his jeans are really form fitting and make the smooth curve of his backside really apparent in the warm light of the green house.

Green houses are very warm. Yes. Yes they are.

Sehun swallows, trying to drag his eyes from Minseok's easily working form (and bum) when he realizes Minseok is _ahead_ of him by at least a table and a half and Sehun will probably be paying for Lunch. Sehun checked his bank account last week. It was about depressingly sad and two cents off of what he wanted it to be. Shit. Sehun frowns and begins gnawing on his lip, working furiously and snapping off dead plant bits as fast as he can. Playing catch up.

Sehun is sweating slightly, something which he never really enjoys considering his internal body temperature is typically the same as that on the surface of the sun and he over heats in about five seconds of physical exertion. Plus, sweating is gross. So gross. He gets a bit lost, breaking off plant bits and shuffling down his benches as quickly as he can as Minseok's humming presses into his mind and makes it go slightly fuzzy.

The thing about dead heading plants is that it’s mindless work and your mind tends to wander. To all sorts of things. Like what Lunch will be like when Sehun magically beats Minseok in a glorious come back. Or what Minseok will say, how Minseok will smile, how he can gloat at Junmyeon later for his romantic success while Junmyeon still can't properly have a conversation with Kyuhyun aside from telling him that this customer can't find the pear trees and help please. Thinking about how Minseok was warm beside him and smells like lovely things and how his hands work so easily. How easily those hands could work other things. What they would look like opening a bottle. Or holding a book as he reads it with a small soft smile. What they would look like wrapped in his own hands, fingers laced. What they would look like wrapped around-

"How you doing, Sehun?" Minseok's sudden voice has the younger jerking up, slamming his head against a low hanging basket as he looks for Minseok. Who isn't on his side of the green house. He's on Sehun's side, slowly working towards him and smiling smugly.

"You-" Sehun lost. Sehun lost so badly Minseok has to help him to make up for his inefficiency. Sehun lost and Minseok won and Sehun now has to pay for lunch and-

Wait, that's not a bad thing. Because even if Sehun is paying, he's still getting lunch with Minseok. And that's kind of a reward anyway. Even if Sehun is broke as shit and can't afford a new pair of shoes.

Well, unless they're flip flops.

But flip flops are tacky.

Minseok looks up and smiles at him, teeth flashing as his lips pull over gums and it's so goddamn cute Sehun wants to fall over on top of him. Totally logical. "Looks like lunch is on you today," Minseok says. Sehun gets the very brief and tempting and yes please image of himself, lying prone and probably mostly naked with a variety of food on top of him as Minseok taps a finger to his lips and tries to choose between the humus dip near his naval and the bowl of cucumber salad in the center of his chest. Or perhaps the olives resting along his collarbones. He swallows with a lot of difficulty.

"Looks that way," Sehun says, voice cracking against his will and he fights down the urge to shove his hand into his hair to calm himself down because his hands are covered in sticky dead plant juice. Gross. "Any requests?" Please say me. Please say me. Please for the love of god say me I will starve for a meal I don't even care please just say me you can have me please just say me.

"What about hamburgers or going to the deli?" Minseok suggests, turning to continue dead heading fucking geraniums as Sehun's legs nearly give out. "We can split an order of fries or something. Unless you want something else."

"No!" Sehun says quickly, stumbling over his pant debris crate as he shuffles down the bench towards Minseok and tries to continue cleaning up plants. Well, technically that's a lie. Sehun would like a lot of things, most of them concerning Minseok instead of food, but he doesn't know if Minseok would appreciate him saying ‘your thighs’ instead of something normal like 'soup please.' Sehun figures he could say ‘hot dogs’ and try to be suggestive but the last time he tried that Donghae had hit him with a bottle of ketchup.

"Hamburgers or the deli sounds perfect," Sehun says and accidentally breaks off a healthy flower as Minseok shuffles closer to him and smiles, eyes on the plants before him and Sehun wants Minseok to look at him like that. With tenderness and care and keen focused interest.

"Excellent," Minseok says, looking up at Sehun and turning to lean against the bench, apparently finished his own work. Sehun looks up and bites his lip. "I did my side. You finish yours," Minseok says in explanation with an easy smile.

"What about you?" Sehun asks as he tries to hide the healthy now decapitated flower.

Minseok grins. "I'm supervising you," he says and Sehun's tongue sticks out rather awkwardly in response. He pulls it back in a moment later and smiles as best he can. "Okay," he says, trying not to shake. Don't fuck up, Sehun. Don't fuck up. He goes back to dead heading, sticking the healthy now severed flower back by the pot as furtively as he can as he works towards Minseok and tries not to let his nervousness show on his face. Be cool, bro. Be cool. He finally comes to a cleaned up geranium and looks up.

Minseok is watching him with a smile, leaning easily against the bench of flowers and Sehun has to swallow because Minseok's hands are stained with plant stuff and he has a stain on his long sleeved shirt and there's still dirt on his nose and his hair is pushed a bit off his face and he looks awesome.

"Good job," Minseok says, patting Sehun on the arm easily and Sehun's chest wriggles with moths. Minseok bends down a second later and picks up his crate full of dead headed geranium bits. "Let's go dump this on the compost, wash up, and get some food. I'm starving."

Sehun elects to laugh a response out instead of speak. Because he thinks he might just start speaking in something like fragmented sounds if he isn't careful. He picks up his own crate of geraniums before following Minseok quickly out of the green house. He's behind him, therefore its totally okay to take in the back of the other. His shoulders, defined back even under the fabric of his shirt; his waist as it curves under his shirt; the dark wash jeans that curve and conform so wonderfully to his ass and thighs as he walks in that weird mix of shoes that isn't a sneaker or a hiking book but some sort of freakish hybrid Sehun wouldn't be caught dead in but which looks awesome because Minseok is wearing them.

Even the compost pile looks great when Minseok is flinging dead plants things on it.

"So," Minseok says, falling easily into step with Sehun after Sehun has flung his own dead headed plant bits to the compose pile to decay. "Do you have a car or are we taking my Volvo to the deli?" Sehun's mind flashes to just himself and Minseok sitting together in a car together as they go to get sandwiches and chips and Minseok will maybe get a cola and drink from a bendy straw. Which Sehun will probably find suggestive. Minseok is watching him expectantly

"I don't have a car," Sehun says and feels abnormally insufficient. Usually, Sehun mostly considers himself God's gift to the earth. How could he not be with his amazing looks and sharp with, but really, riding your road bike to work every day really isn't that cool when he thinks about how him riding with Minseok on his bicycle kind of pales in comparison to an air conditioned car.

It's also about 256 times safer.

"That's fine," Minseok says, walking in through the back entry of the tropical green house and waving to Yixing as he waters and props up some tropical plants that Sehun thinks might be poisonous. He doesn't know. "I'm taking lunch with Sehun," Minseok tells the other as Yixing looks over at them.

"I thought you were taking lunch with Kyungsoo today," Yixing says with a frown.

"Change of plan," Minseok says with a smile. "Plus, I'm pretty sure Sohyea is just bringing him lunch anyway. I wouldn't want to intrude on their time together."

Yixing hums and nods in agreement, switching his hose to a crawling vine that might strangle Sehun if he goes near it. "You'll miss out on the free snacks though. She always brings fodder from the bakery that they don't use."

"I think I'll survive this one time," Minseok says with a laugh as Yixing smiles pleasantly at them. "See you in a bit!" he calls before striding into the shop area and towards the break room, Sehun following behind and feeling oddly sheepish. Minseok hums as he turns towards the sink, moving to the side to make room for Sehun to wash his hands as well. Sehun wonders if he washes Minseok's hands for him if that would be possibly creepy. Probably. He settles for seeing how much soap he can get lathered in his hands.

"Did you really not have any experience working with plants before you came here?" Minseok asks, looking up at Sehun as he runs his hands under the water.

Sehun shoves his hands under the water too, jolting a bit at the hotter temperature. "Yeah," he answers as he cleans his hands from the gross stick of geranium juice. "I used to work at a book store the past two summers and thought I could use a change of pace." _Also Junmyeon bullied me a lot into keeping him company because he's a stupid carp_ is something that Sehun doesn't say. Because it sounds ridiculously immature and he's not immature at all. Well… maybe sometimes.

"Really?" Minseok asks as he shakes his hands dry. "That sounds like a nice quiet job. No sunburns there."

"It was okay," Sehun says, smiling slightly at the memory of the bookshop. He sometimes does think fondly of the old shelves in the ancient store. But then he remembers his dick of a boss who would come in and cite Herman Melville at him and quote from _Ulysses_ to make him feel insignificant and thinks he likes Seeds and Soil much better.

"I like it here better," Sehun continues as he dries his hands and smiles at Minseok, watching as the elder walks over to their time cards and pulls them both out. "The people especially," Sehun adds and has to bite his lips to keep his smile from breaking his face when Minseok positively beams at him and gives a small laugh. It isn't until Minseok has punched them both out that it hits Sehun that he's actually going to go have lunch with his not so subtle crush and they're going alone and together and _Minseok is driving them there in his car_ and Sehun begins to have a small panic attack.

Sehun doesn't have asthma. In fact, the only condition he has is a slight lisp which he knows is adorable. However, at the moment he really fucking wants an inhaler.

"You probably need your wallet," Minseok says, snapping Sehun from repeating about every other word he knows for 'concerned' in his head as he looks at the elder, shrugging on his jacket and looking amused.

"What?" Sehun asks, blinking a bit.

"For lunch," Minseok says and seems very humored for a minute. "You're paying, remember?"

Oh. Dead heading. Geraniums. That whole thing. Right.

"Of course," Sehun says and quickly strides to his shoulder bag, digging out his wallet from in between copies of his 'genius ideas' notebook and a bit of light reading. In other words, Orson Scott Card’s _ENDER'S GAME_ because Sehun is a closet nerd.

"Sorry, I spaced," Sehun says and tries to keep his cheeks from setting on fire.

"I can tell," Minseok says with laughter in his voice and Sehun mostly wants to join him laughing and also die in a fire.

"C'mon, we should go. We only have forty minutes," Minseok says easily and Sehun grabs his wallet before shuffling out after the elder and feeling stupidly excited.

"What kind of sandwich do you want?" Sehun asks, following Minseok to the car and trying not to walk too close to Minseok and thus bump into him and send him stumbling. Which wouldn't be okay.

Minseok hums and looks up at him, squinting somewhat in the sunlight. "I dunno, I usually just get whatever catches my eye. Rat-a-tat usually has awesome sandwiches and clubs."

Sehun nods and chews his lips, humming a bit and trying to think of something to make sure they don't fall into awkward silence. He doesn't know when he'll be able to go to lunch with Minseok on his own again (unless they magically date though Sehun isn't going to count his chickens before they hatch) and thus wants to make this a success and not a burning failure.

"Have you been there?" Minseok asks easily, unlocking his car and walking to the driver’s side.

"Rat-a-tat?" Sehun asks, opening the passenger side door and looking to Minseok. "Yeah, I used to hang out there a lot back in High School."

"My friend owns the place actually," Minseok says, sliding into the drivers seat before leaning into the passenger seat and smiling up at Sehun apologetically, picking up a large array of, well, random shit. "Sorry, I haven't cleaned in a while."

"No!" Sehun says quickly, bending down to try to help, grabbing a few papers and empty chip bags and trying to move them to the back. "It's fine, you should see my brother's car."

"Does it also resemble a war of disorganization?" Minseok asks with a laugh as he throws a few things into the back seat and finally shifts back to allow Sehun to try to fit his long limbs into the cramped car and ends up with his knees bent up a bit. Minseok looks over and pulls his lower lips into his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh as he turns the key in the ignition. "What about you? Got any sandwich cravings?"

Sehun tries to see if he can maneuver his legs without breaking them. Or the car. "Not really," he says. "I'm too hungry to really figure out what I want to eat right now."

Minseok laughs openly, gums flashing as he reverses from the parking space and he's so goddamn easy to talk to and seems to normal while Sehun is trying not to look like a plum.

"Oh god, I know the feeling, I'm starving," Minseok says, turning out of the plant shop and onto the open road, clearly competent with a vehicle. Which is more than Sehun can say of half of his friends. "Breakfast seems ages ago. Cereal seriously is never enough to keep you satisfied until lunch."

"I just had poptarts," Sehun says before he can stop himself and Minseok looks over swiftly, before letting out a snort.

"Breakfast of Champions," Minseok says with a smirk and Sehun wonders if he kicks his knee against the dash it the airbag will come out and kill him.

Rat-a-tat is fairly crowded with the usual lunch group, Sehun and Minseok stand in line as Sehun frowns at the sandwich board, tongue between his teeth as he squints and tires to read over the din of the shop.

"Any ideas what you want?" he asks Minseok, bending down towards the other as Minseok rocks a bit on his heels and looks calm.

"Probably the ruben," Minseok says with an affirming nod. "You can never go wrong with a Ruben."

Sehun sucks in his bottom lip and tries to act like he knows what a Ruben is as he nods a bit. "Sounds good," he says and looks back at the menu.

"What about you, kiddo?" Minseok asks, nudging him in the side and Sehun nearly scrunches his face up in abject distaste. _Kiddo?_

"Maybe the turkey club," Sehun says, trying to ignore the sinking sensation in his chest. Kiddo. Minseok called him ‘kiddo’. The only thing more demeaning than being called Kiddo by the object of your affections is if they pat you on the head and call you 'little tyke' and offer you vegetables cut into very small pieces. Just so you don't choke on the large pieces because you're obviously an infant.

"Do you want any chips?" Sehun asks, and fidgets, trying not to look depressed as fuck. "Or a drink?"

"Just a cola," Minseok says, shifting closer so he nudges into Sehun's side. Sehun doesn't move away, figuring that even if Minseok sees him as the equivalent of a 4 year old he can still nurse his crush and wounded pride simultaneously. "Maybe some chips. You?"

Sehun licks his lips on habit and looks down at Minseok. Minseok is looking up at him, eyes warm and smiling and Sehun has to swallow before answering. "You can't go wrong with cola," he says. Sehun usually judges and teases his brother and Junmyeon for drinking cola all the time, instead boasting the superiority of stuff such as sprite and the ultimate drink known as _Fanta_ but, well, maybe cola isn't all that lame. You know, if Minseok likes it so much.

Minseok ends up ordering for them seeing as Sehun is too slow on the uptake and Minseok steps in easily, his hand resting briefly on the small of Sehun's back and nearly sending him into a fit of nervous giggles. They manage to find a table and it's barely a few minutes of them chatting about whatever (mostly Minseok asking easy questions and chatting idly as Sehun tries not swallow his tongue around his answers). Their order is called and Sehun jumps up before Minseok can, grabbing the food and hurrying back to the table and setting the food down, Minseok grinning at him and seriously if he keeps smiling at Sehun he's going to break his brain. Because damn Minseok is so cute when he smiles.

Sehun decides that it will be better in his life interest to just eat his sandwich and try not to focus on the man who calls him 'kiddo' and makes his heart flutter with various insect species. However, he's about three intense bites into his turkey club when there's a light tap on his hand and he looks up to see a hand holding a bit of sandwich. In his face. The hand is attached to an arm which is attacked to a Minseok who is smiling at him with his head cocked to the side as he offers a bit of his sandwich to Sehun. With his fingers. Sehun's entire chest expands and he can't breath. Maybe his lungs collapsed.

"Try a bite," Minseok says, waving the bite of sandwich torn off and in his fingers at Sehun's gaping in shock mouth. "It's really good."

Sehun, on a random thought that is mostly impulsive draws back, his own fingers gripping his sandwich and ignoring the small droop in Minseok's smile as he tears off a bit of his own sandwich. He watches Minseok's slightly surprised face he hold out his own bit of sandwich with a smile that is much more confident that he feels. "We can trade," he says and thanks God that his voice is wavering.

Minseok blinks, eyes going slightly wide as they flicker between Sehun's fingers, holding a bit of the turkey club, and his face, which has his lips pressed in slight anxiety. Minseok's eyebrows raise slightly and the next second he's leaning forward, mouth opening as he gently takes the bite of sandwich from Sehun's fingers, lips brushing over skin and Sehun stops breathing because nothing could be more gorgeous than Minseok's mouth closing around his fingers as he takes a bit of Turkey club into his mouth, warm breath ghosting out and sending a shiver up his skin.

Minseok pulls back a little, his eyes on Sehun as he chews languidly and a smile tugs at his mouth. Sehun can't really move, hand still extended over the table and still tingling with the feeling of Minseok's lips brushing over it as he _ate from Sehun's fingers and it was amazing._

Minseok hums, nodding a bit and shifts a bit, eyes crinkling. "Not bad," he says, licking his lips around the bite of sandwich he's half way through chewing. He swallows before smirking at Sehun. "Your turn," he says offering his own piece of sandwich to Sehun. Sehun swallows, looking down at the offered piece of bread and meat and trying to remind himself that this is just a piece of sandwich. He has eaten sandwiches all his life. He should not be feeling like it is the biggest step of his life to eat a piece of a goddamn sandwich.

It doesn't really make a difference though as he watches Minseok's face, leaning down a bit and taking the offered food between his teeth, careful not to bite Minseok's fingers. Minseok shifts his hands, fingers pressing against Sehun's lips as he pushes the food forward slightly and Sehun nearly gasps, dropping the sandwich fragment because _Minseok’s fingers in his mouth_ but manages to keep composed, pulling back with the sandwich bit intact in his mouth before he chews. It tastes amazing. Though really, Minseok could have just given him cardboard and done the same thing and Sehun would probably think it was the food of Zeus.

"Good?" Minseok asks, smile stretching over his teeth and gums and Sehun tries not to moan.

"Amazing," Sehun replies, not even bothering to hide the blush on his face as he watches the grin spread full on Minseok's face as he picks up his sandwich again and take a large bite, chewing happily.

Sehun figures he can just die right here, right now, and not regret anything. Because this is perfect. And he wants to do it every goddamn day.


End file.
